All Cards

This is mainly a (giant) page to ease deck-wide checks in maintenance time. It is a dump of all individual cards' pages.If you got here not wittingly you will probably prefer to go to the Deck page, and then navigate through the individual card pages.

Synopsis

A deck-based approach to a Pattern Language for Sound Design in Games, strongly influenced by Acoustic Ecology and subject to the principle that Sound Design in Games benefits from being embedded in the overall Game Design.

Relationships

Includes all.

Description

This card is meant to function as a "presentation card" for the deck.
It differs from other cards in the deck in the sense that it was not designed with the goal of representing specific sound design explorations. It rather supports the communication of the overall mindset to which every card is subject.

The card is also used to contextualize other cards that carry high-level concepts or that are transversal to the sound design, as illustrated by the relationships field.

One important role of this card is to make clear that there is more information available besides the limited contents of the card. The front face includes a bloated QR-Code that is meant to emphasize that aspect. It is important to notice that we are not arguing that the cards should be used while accessing the extended information. Actually, our major design goal when designing the front face of this particular card was to establish a clear idea that the cards are, by design, a partial view of the information they address. Still, we argue the usage of cards (subject to that mindset) is meaningful even without access to the respective extended information, either because they may communicate information enough to support design decisions, or because users are already fairly familiar with the extended contents and are able to appreciate the usefulness of short tokens to the respective ideas.

For most effects this card is not considered when counting the number of cards in the deck, which is said to be 77. This may be regarded as the 78th card – or the 0th, to be more coherent with its purpose.

Examples

Synopsis

Relationships

Description

Achievement is arguably the most widely explored use of sound in video games, in all times. It is used to signal virtually all positive happenings during gameplay, such as elemental accomplishments (gathering collectibles, picking power-ups, defeating regular opponents, ...), intermediate success (reaching a checkpoint, unlocking some feature, defeating a boss, ...), collateral achievements (conquering a bonus, earning a trophy, ...), completing the game, etc.

Sounds of Achievement are, to start with, a matter of Awareness, in the sense that they signal a happening, clarifying its interest. Additionally, they have impact in the overall Emotional Script, in the sense that they reward and highlight the player's behaviour.

Considering the potential recurrence of some Achievements along the game experience, they ought to be carefully designed. They are usually short, though the duration may be adapted to the magnitude of the accomplishment.

Since the nature of the Achievement is often abstract, Sound Effects or Music snippets are a common option. In the case of events involving items whose manipulation has an audible Foley (e.g., picking a sack of coins), a sound derived from it may convey a more direct messaging. Other approaches, including diegetic and non-diegeticDialogue, have been explored as well.

Perhaps the hardest challenge for a sound designer is to ensure (with a certain level of confidence) that a particular sound stimulus will indeed be perceived as "positive".

Sounds of Achievement contrast with those of Failure, which convey the opposite semantics.

Examples

Tomb Raider Underworld:

Tetris: In this implementation (iPhone) a vocal expression "single", "double", "triple", ... is also used.

Relationships

Description

This card carries the most influential concept inherent to the conception of the whole set of cards in the deck. It may not be very specific in suggesting explorations during sound design but it states a crucial mindset that ought to be present when considering other cards.
The Acoustic Ecology can be thought of as the whole set of sounds that are heard during the game. The reason why it is so important to design all sounds as an “ecology” is that sounds have relationships that need to be managed appropriately, in a holistic way. Simply superimposing the sounds from the several Sound Layers is not adequate. To start with, sounds related to entities and events that in turn are related among themselves. But not less importantly, the reverse also applies – the sources of those sounds should also shape their relations as a consequence of the characteristics of their own acoustic expressions, as it happens in a natural ecology [pending:[REF]]. More, in addition to timings, turns, tones and relative strengths, there is also the dimension of coherence.
Some games extend the Acoustic Ecology to components other than the gameplay (and Cutscenes when they exist). Namely, Title Screens and Menus may be coherent and integrated – in acoustic terms – with the Acoustic Ecology experienced during gameplay.

Examples

Additional Comments

Coherence in the Acoustic Ecology in the subsequent phases of development

Coherence in the Acoustic Ecology is a concern that needs to be thoughtfully transmitted and carried to the implementation phases of sound in the game.
We are not dealing with implementation aspects in the scope of these design patterns but we consider that, in this particular case, a remark is opportune. One bottleneck to the integration of sounds in games is the availability of sound files and the scarce ability to produce them from scratch. Off-the-shelf sound libraries are often too expensive or otherwise limited, considering the budget of small projects. Consequently developers are often challenged with the need to combine sounds from sparse origins that are highly incompatibly in aesthetics and acoustic terms (disparate levels of background noise, reverberation, etc.). In turn this may lead to a final result that fails in terms of overall coherency, regardless of the merit of the sound design that may have preceded this phase.

On the concept of Acoustic Ecology

[pending]

External Resources

Book: "The Acoustic Ecology of the First-Person Shooter" by Mark Grimshaw[1]

References

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Synopsis

Relationships

Description

Some games preview the possibility of the PC being able to address the NPC (diegetically) through a sound stimulus. Solutions include short Dialogue, singing and playing (e.g., Sing to Act), whistling, and car honking. Motivations may relate to the gameplay, or simply be part of the exploratory dimension of the experience.

Examples

Assassin's Creed 2: Ezio addressing hired people either using Dialogue or by whistling, with semantics equivalent to "stay" and "come".

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: Nathan can exchange compliments with the villagers or even pet a yak, using Dialogue.

Synopsis

Relationships

Description

Aesthetics, in the scope, refers to the qualities of the sounds used in a particular design, namely the artistic qualities. Defining the sound Aesthetics in a game implies, for instance, that all sounds share the common characteristics inherent to such Aesthetics. Being so, it augments the coherency of particular decisions. In that vein, it may call for a study on the Acoustic Ecology of the game.

The Aesthetics of sound can reinforce that of the other elements in the game (as it can defy it, should that be the
purpose). Aesthetical decisions may be based on a multitude of motivations. They usually convey an artistic option and may serve the intention to create an association to a context (such as time, place, technology, culture, ...), support a mood (by being dark, cartoonish, childish, silent, intense, …), explore a particular approach to the composition of sounds being used (minimalist, subjective, musical, non-musical, realistic, …), etc.

References

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Synopsis

Relationships

Description

Some games explore the impact of hearing impairment in the Emotional Script. Usually, it is associated to some condition that the player will be induced to avoid.

Examples

inFamous: When facing Imminent Death hearing gets affected and the sound of the blood pressure in the inner ears becomes dominant. This condition effectively communicates the severity of the PC's health, signalling the need to stop taking damage and adopting a behaviour that allows recovery.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: Temporarily deaf and tinnitus after an exploding grenade.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory: Using a noisy grenade to disturb the enemies and to ease taking them down.

Ambiance is usually perceived only when other Sound Layers are absent or low volume. For that reason, from an emotional standpoint, Ambiance is commonly associated to phases of Relaxation, when there are no other stimuli competing for focused attention. Still, in the case of horror games, Ambiance is typically used to support a continued feeling of Anticipation, instead. But, again, also in those cases there are usually few other sounds and, actually, Silence is an important ingredient in the sound composition.

Ambiance can also serve to better establish an association with a particular geographical location through the exploration of archetypes (namely those imported from film tradition).

References

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Sound designers in the movie industry explore Anticipation in very effective ways. Yet, this is one of the aspects where techniques used in film practice are hardly "importable" to game design. In games, contrary to what happens in movies, it is inherently difficult to predict what the player will do next, or even to assess the motivations behind the player's current behaviour. Unless for instance interactivity is compromised by linearizing the gameplay in particular moments (to the possible extreme of inserting a Cutscene), some artificial intelligence may be necessary to infer a proper moment for Anticipation.

Description

Sounds of Awareness expose aspects of a circumstance that demand some degree of attention, relevant to gameplay. These stimuli may either evidence a problem, inform about a state, emphasize an opportunity, or reinforce the outcome of happening.

To a certain extent, sounds of Awareness are mostly unidirectional, i.e., they output something. Yet, if these sounds are designed in a way that they effectively produce changes in the player, namely at the emotional level, they may be instrumental to indirectly shape the players input.

Examples

Assassin's Creed: A pulsing Sound Effect tells that there are attentive guards nearby. Blending with the crowd, as when sitting in a bench, diverts their attention (and consequently the sound mutes).

Crysis: The voiced warning (Dialogue) makes the player learn that the suit's invisibility is about to be compromised.

Half-Life 2:

Papa Sangre:

LocoRoco: When a Moja is nearby, the playing LocoRoco vocalizes a scared warning, which besides being informative is highly emotional. The LocoRoco can see the Moja before the player does, so this acoustic message gives another additional advantage over graphics.

Ico:

Shadow of the Colossus: A sound warns when Wander ought to find a resting stance, otherwise he will lose grip and fall, most likely to death.

Halo: Reach:

Additional Comments

The advantages of sound over (or in combination) with visuals to implement mechanisms of awareness is one of the aspects claimed by pioneer authors who carried a collective initiative to leverage the recognition of sound as a field of research [1].

External Resources

It may also be relevant – at least insightful – to consider the state of the art on the design of alarm sounds, e.g.[2]

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Synopsis

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Description

Frequently, some game entities are supplemented with a soundprint that emphasizes their presence. The role of such soundprint varies, but they all aim some form of Awareness. The fact that Beacon Locators provide information regarding aspects that may be out of sight, and that such acoustic queues are often distinctive, is instrumental for Identification of the source.

The most evident use is in supporting the spotting of collectible items. Often the soundprint of the emitters is not achieved through their own Foley but through some Sound Effect. As an aside, Beacon Locators associated to collectible items are usually immediately followed by a sound of Achievement, should the item be collected.

One other category of examples of Beacon Locator is to provide Awareness for the existence of enemies in the vicinity, sometimes with the advantage of also enabling to identify their direction, through Directionality. In such cases it is common that the detection is provided by aspects of the NPC's Character Soundprint, although it may consist of other sound manifestations of NPC interaction such as Chitchat, etc.

Examples

BioShock: There is no way the player would be surprised by these NPC. Their acoustic expression, in the case Chitchat (serving also as Unaware NPC), let the player know, at a great distance, of their presence.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: The detection of out of sight Nirnroot plants is solely acoustic (Sound Effect).

Far Cry 2: The sound emitted by concealed briefcases containing diamonds is useful to spot them. In this exploration, the sound is only perceptible if the PC is close to the briefcase, and such items are also possible to find by checking a non-acoustic proximity sensor of the handheld GPS (not practical to keep equipped but with a wider range). In this game, tapes (Recordings) can also be found this way.

Synopsis

Relationships

Description

Breath is one possible component of the Character Soundprint that can message particular circumstances, such as fatigue, stress, and pain. Uneasy breath is often complemented by Grunts synchronized with (and possibly replacing) exhalation.

Unlike Footsteps (arguably the most prevalent component of Character Soundprint), Breath is not constantly heard. It is "triggered" by meaningful associations such as hard movement, injury, and emotional situations. This exceptional appearance makes it more noticeable and effective in signalling such associations.

Examples

Crysis:

Heavy Rain: This Cutscene uses Breath to augment the perception of distress.

Mirror's Edge: In this game Breath is highly naturalist and effective in terms of the Emotional Script. All the complexity of timings and intensities of breath holding, sonorous exhalations and Grunts, characterize very efficiently the movements and support an Entrainment that allows the game to be felt in first-person.

The Path: A case of usage of the sound of Breath not exactly to represent the PC's actual breathing but to characterize a context in terms of the Emotional Script.

Half-Life 2: In this case the semantics is reversed. We hear Freeman trying to hold his Breath, not to get drown, which is a clear indicator of Imminent Death that is also very effective in terms of the Emotional Script.

Papa Sangre: Breath helps to characterize the pace (running, instead of walking) and provides one more element to give existence to a character who the player never sees.

Limbo: Breath (together with Footsteps) puts the focus on the character and messages his effort.

Mini Ninjas: Amongst the several selectable PC, Futo is the only one whose breath is perceptible (when running). This singularity in the Character Soundprint makes sense considering is physical characteristics.

Description

Character Soundprint is a matter of great importance for disparate reasons. To start with, Character Soundprint is relevant for the sake of Awareness. That includes providing the sense of presence and signalling basic activity. With that purpose there is a set of sound explorations that are consistently used, such as:

Breath, usually just for the PC and reserved to conditions like enduring efforts or extreme emotional conditions;

Sound Effects, which depending on the type of character, may be pertinent in addition or in substitution of those elements (for instance, and imaginary or abstract character).

Also, characters usually express themselves through a language, which may be actual Dialogue and/or more basic utterances (e.g., Shout and Yell or even simpler Grunts).

Additionally, Character Soundprint may also be relevant in terms of Identification, that is, in providing the means for the player to be able to distinguish between different types of characters. Identification may be achieved through the design of disparate Signatures for those types of characters, by establishing some uniqueness in characters' soundprints. Besides being potentially interesting in terms of gameplay the diversity also can contribute to the Acoustic Ecology. In turn, singular Character Soundprints can be explored to establish a memorable experience and brand.

Examples

Mini Ninjas: Suzume is particularly noticeable by the flute that she plays while idle and to enchant opponents (but which can also be used as a regular baton).

Portal: GLaDOS's soundprint is all about voice, and an extraordinary discourse.

Ice Age 3: The soundprint of Scrat is instrumental to make it being perceived as a lively, emotional, and nervous creature.

Papa Sangre: In a game where there is no visual perception of the characters, their soundprints are crucial to establish their existence and to grasp their actions and attitudes at any particular instant. That applies to both the NPC and the PC.

Halo: Reach: The soundprint of this particular type of opponent confers them a temperament that potentiates an emotional tension when the player is faced with the need to kill them.

Synopsis

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Description

Chitchat encompasses the forms of NPCDialogue which are relevant to participate in the game's Acoustic Ecology but which do not carry information relevant for the gameplay.
Chitchat can also integrate solutions to represent Unaware NPC and to denounce NPC location (a form of Beacon Locator), but those are different cases of Awareness that we don't intend to reach in this particular card.

Examples

Assassin's Creed 2: Dense background conversations including Chitchat are very consistent in this game.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Some Chitchat sentences, like the variants referring mud crabs are part of the game's Signature. Also, sometimes Chitchat is directed to the PC.

Far Cry 2: Inside ceasefire zones, and contrary to what happens in all the rest of the territory, occupants Chitchat while they are tolerant to the PC's presence (i.e., even if they are aware of the PC)

Infamous: In Infamous part of the NPC's Dialogue is Chitchat that not only integrates the Acoustic Ecology but, more interestingly, shapes it, according to an Emotional Script that evolves during the game in function of the player's actions.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune: A piece of Dialogue between the PC and a NPC which contributes to contextualize their motivations but which is not particularly related to the ongoing actions. Actually, the frivolous character of the conversation ends up being recognized by the characters themselves.

Description

The attention that entities in the game world have towards the presence of the PC is extensible to its acoustic expression. That is, in the same way that the visual identification of the PC matters for the game world, the relevance of its acoustic expressions is also meaningful. Conversely, the ability for the character to hear can also be explored beyond the strict Awareness of what happens in the vicinity.

Designing an acoustic presence for the PC and consequences for such expressions enlarges considerably the designers' creative space and allows taking proper advantage of interactivity. Particular explorations include performing Stealth actions, using mechanisms of Sound Suppressing, luring or diverting others' attention through Sound Decoys, explicitly performing sound to achieve a certain result (e.g., as in Sing to Act and Rhythm Gameplay), communicating with other characters (Address Others), using Sonic Weapon, or other behaviours that value non-destructive intervention Make Sound not War. Sounds emitted by the character/player may consist of actual player's Sound Input or may be virtually produced, either as part of the Characters' Soundprint or through actions that they may perform.

In turn, designing the PC's ability to interpret consequent sound emitted by other characters, allows extending the gameplay to include behaviour where that interpretation is actively pursued, such as Eavesdropping and performing Echolocation.

Examples

Grand Theft Auto IV: Using the car horn next to pedestrians makes them get stressed or scared and react accordingly, including through Dialogue. In specific circumstances, the horn can be used to Address Others who may be receptive to that kind of call.

Synopsis

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Description

Music is frequently used to characterize specific contexts. These contexts may be regions in the scenario, levels, categories of circumstances, etc.

Designing Contextual Music is more prone to contribute to the fitness of Music in each particular moment along the experience, than a "global" game Music alone would. The succession of the pieces of Contextual Music, as heard by the player, allows a transposition to the Music level of the global Emotional Script of the experience.

Also, Contextual Music may be designed so that the Variety it propitiates contributes to a constantly renewed experience.

A particular type of contextual variations on Music that we are addressing separately is the change according to the current involvement in the game's conflict. Those explorations are integrated in the design of Relaxation, Anticipation, Engagement and Decay.

Examples

Flower: An exploration of Contextual Music in the Menus, to unfold the Emotional Script along the experience. In the beginning of the game the Menu presents an Acoustic Ecology (predominantly Ambiance) allusive to a emotionally negative environment. As the game progresses, it becomes more positive and eventually it becomes highly rewarding, which also supports very effectively the inherent Narrative.

The Path:

LocoRoco: The contextuality of Music is impressive. It depends not only on the level but also on the selected type of LocoRoco (they are 6 and can be chosen in any level). Also, Music is adapted to the acoustics of the space (e.g., reverberation inside an ice cave). Even more interestingly, the more the LocoRoco the more the singing voices, which impacts considerably in the Emotional Script. The Variety provided by all this contextuality propitiates a constantly renewed experience.

Synopsis

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Description

In their typical form, Cutscenes are cinematic parts of the game inserted between moments of gameplay. They usually serve the Narrative, and have strong impact in the Emotional Script.

Being static pieces, they are prone to incorporate more closely techniques from film practice, including in terms of the approach to sound. Still, considering the pertinence in keeping the whole product coherent, for instance regarding the Acoustic Ecology, it is relevant that they are considered holistically, in conjunction with the other components of the game – that is, the acoustic composition heard during gameplay but also in the Menus and even in the Title Screens.

It is worth noticing that some modern games include interactiveCutscenes, which present new opportunities and challenges, closer to those of regular gameplay.

What is more, there is controversy regarding the appropriateness of Cutscenes in video games. Some designers defend they are disruptive and compromise immersion, for instance. [pending: Develop this further in "Additional Comments"].

Examples

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: A song that plays an important role in several Cutscenes.

References

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Synopsis

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Description

In games where the idea of "live(s)" is part of the gameplay, the condition of the PC's Death represents an extreme condition of Failure, calling for an appropriate level of Awareness.

Moreover, the ("real-life") concept of death holds inherent associations to emotions that may be explored in games, namely with the contribution of sound design, both to enrich the (Emotional Script) and to emphasize the pertinence of avoiding such condition.

In some games the PC's Death is an acoustically complex episode, involving for instance PC's Grunts (Ouch!), NPC's Dialogue (of sympathy or despise), Foley from the action conducing to the death, and some additional Sound Effects.

For the design of PC's Death it is crucial to assess the expected recurrence of dying, according to the gameplay and difficulty level. For instance, Variety may be required to avoid compromising the emotional intention upon repetition.

Conversely, NPC's Death, being a frequent and usually intended event (that is, emotionally positive), usually consists of simpler stimuli serving essentially as a death certificate (Awareness). In some games the possible emotional distress related to the idea of death is completely absent and the "termination" of opponents is purely characterized as an Achievement.

Mirror's Edge: The Foley sounds of the body crashing in the ground effectively convey an uncanny sense of embodiment.

Half-Life 2: The Foley of the action causing Death, followed by an impaired perception of the Ambiance.

Pac-Man: Despite the non realistic scenario and the frequency of the event, this sound keeps being emotionally effective.

Papa Sangre: The tension maintained during the gameplay and the embodied violence of the attack make Death an emotionally intense experience.

Patapon: The Death of individual patapons is mixed with the on-going composition.

Ico: A rare (also sonic) characterization of Death. The fulminant Sound Effect exposes a baffling sense of impotence and irreversibility once the condition is met, contrasting with the players urge to avoid it. The PC doesn't even have the chance to participate in the composition (e.g., no Grunts).

Synopsis

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Description

Decay is a transient phase in the game's Emotional Script. Its opportunity is dictated by the gameplay and it has a short duration. It aims at leading or supporting the player while changing from a state of high arousal (e.g., the end of an Engagement) to a state of low arousal (as Relaxation). Usually these several phases relate in a iterated sequence (R-A-E-D Iterations).

A common approach is to perform a fade out in the ongoing (Engagement) Music. Other approaches in term of Music include presenting a short piece of Music evoking "discharge" or to serve the piece that would be the ending of the ongoing composition. Other approaches using Entrainment, are also interesting. Some designers also opted to explicitly informing the player about the change in arousal states through diegeticDialogue.

Dialogue can be implemented through actual Voice Acting (and possibly Dubbing). Yet, there are noticeable cases in which designers decided not to have actual voicing and opted to have Subtitles and Captions instead. Subtitles and Captions may also be pertinent when considering that not all players may be familiar with the language(s) used, and also the ear impaired.

Dialogue may also be used as an instrument to enrich and confer more aliveness to an Acoustic Ecology, for instance by "allowing" NPC to talk to each other (e.g., Chitchat) or by giving voice to a crowd.